NCJ Number
107889
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1987) Pages: 309-323
Date Published
1987
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Self-reports of childhood sexual experiences were obtained from 2,972 men in an approximate representative national sample of college students.
Abstract
The items used to elicit reports of childhood sexual experiences were those developed by Finkelhor (1979). The questionnaire was administered both by self-report and by one-to-one interview on the same occasion. Out of the sample, 7.3 percent of the men reported a childhood experience that met at least one of the following three criteria for sexual abuse: age discrepancy between the child and perpetrator, use of some form of coercion to obtain participation by the victim, and a perpetrator who was a caregiver or authority figure. The average age of victims when sexual abuse first occurred was 9.8 years. Only 15.3 percent of perpetrators were strangers to the victims. A total of 22.2 percent were abused by a family member. Offenders were just slightly more often men or boys than women or girls. Most (81.2 percent) did not tell anyone about the incident, and 61.9 percent felt somewhat victimized by the experience. Characteristics that differentiated among three levels of sexual abuse (exhibition, fondling, and penetration) are presented. Operational definitions of sexual abuse and the behavioral specificity of sexual abuse screening questions for use in future research on men and boys are discussed. 1 table and 15 references. (Author abstract modified)